Greensburg

Welcome to the GREENSBURG Chapter of WBN. We invite you to visit any of our semi-monthly meetings to meet our members and learn the benefits that networking provides for your business growth.

When: 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month

Duration: 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

We also encourage open networking prior to and after official meeting time as an opportunity to meet fellow members and learn more about their businesses.

Where: The Boulevard

900 Towne Square Drive

Greensburg, PA 15601

(See below for directions)

Structure:

Each meeting provides the perfect environment for members and guests to promote their businesses via 60-second commercials. As a featured speaker, one member is given the opportunity to share greater insight into what she does, how she does it, and how her business impacts others with her 20-minute presentation. New members are also given an opportunity to introduce the membership to her business with a 10-minute presentation after she is approved as a member. Additionally, one member will present a table topic. Table topics are at the discretion of the speaker. The subject is something that interests the speaker and something she wants to share with the group. While it can be related to her business, it should not be a presentation only on her business. Some topics that have been discussed in the past include journaling, breathing techniques in public speaking, utilizing social media for your business and bed bugs. Members and guests will also share/hear real examples of how members support members through KUDOS that acknowledge and offer thanks to those who gave referrals, opportunities, leads, etc toward business growth.

Beyond the Meeting:

We stay connected through a members-only Facebook group, which allows members to network and market to each other in between meetings. We also plan a girl’s night out once a month for members to get together in a more relaxed and casual atmosphere. These events are not mandatory, but a lot of fun.

Community Outreach:

In addition to supporting each other, WBN Greensburg also supports the community. Each year our members choose a local, non-profit group to support through funding and various activities. For 2017, we have adopted Relay for Life of Greensburg. This charity means a lot to us as a group because it not only is a great cause, but a member of the Greensburg chapter. Our chapter sponsored a team in the inaugural year of Relay for Life of Greensburg raising over $2,000 for the American Cancer Society in the uplifting and inspiring 24-hour walk event held at Hempfield Area High School. This year’s event is scheduled for June 10-11 and the chapter is opening up their team to WBN members from ALL of the Westmoreland County chapters, including Latrobe Central, Laurel Highlands, Norwin and Murrysville.

Your Invitation to Join The Greensburg Chapter of WBN:

WBN is an organization comprised of professional women. You are cordially invited to visit the GreensburgChapter and introduce yourself to the world of networking. Our members are exclusive by business category; however, we welcome all guests to experience WBN at one of our regular meetings. Feel free to contact one of our Chapter Representative: Carol Regina, regina55@aol.com with any questions.

Directions:

From East (Latrobe/Ligonier), Take Route 30W towards Greensburg, take the Pleasant Unity exit and make a right at the stop sign onto Mt. Pleasant St. Make a right at the next light and and a quick right into the Boulevard parking lot.

From West (Irwin): take Route 30E towards Greensburg, pass Walmart on the left and continue on Route 30 towards Westmoreland Mall; take the Pleasant Unity exit and make a left at the stop sign. At the next light, make a right and then another quick right into the Boulevard parking lot.

There is adequate parking either side of the building. We meet in a private room in the rear of the restaurant. Call The Boulevard directly at 724-420-5955.

WBN Success Stories

In February 1990, I was selling business checks and forms for a national company and my boss suggested I join a networking organization. Shortly after the suggestion, a woman client phoned and asked me to join a new organization just getting started called Women’s Business Network. They had one chapter and about fifteen members. I thought that 8 AM in Robinson Township (a 45 minute commute) was a bit early and I would go to one meeting and bow out… eighteen years later, I have missed very few meetings.

While getting business was the criteria for joining, business is not what has kept me an active member for all of these years. I have formed many important friendships. Many personal and business services that I utilize, from my dentist and eye doctor to financial planner, are from WBN. Being a member of WBN is like having a “friend” in every type of business whom you can call and ask questions without feeling foolish or having to make an appointment just to get an answer. Whatever question I have had, there is someone in WBN I can phone who either knows the answer or who knows someone who knows the answer. I carry my WBN Directory with me wherever I go….just in case I need to phone someone.

I have done things I never dreamed I would do… going on two cruises (discounted, of course). One of the cruises was with another WBN friend for “girls only” to celebrate a mutually important milestone birthday!

Emotional support in times of trouble has been an extremely important factor. For a period of time I felt like the biblical character Job (who met with so much hardship) had nothing on me, but my WBN friends and supporters saw me through the worst of times and cheered me on through the best of times.

I have received a tremendous education over the years not only from the informative table topics and business presentations, but also from knowing and meeting such a diverse group of helpful women. This “education” helps me to supply better business services to my clients and makes me a more valuable resource to them.

A lifelong friend started a business in Fort Wayne, Indiana. When we discussed her business she would confide in me that she could only wish that there were an organization like WBN where she lived. I saw through her eyes what it was like to have no support, no confidants, no quick answers to questions, and no source for getting business when you are just starting.

I now own a service business that requires a lot of trust on the part of my clients. Advertising is most often by word of mouth. In 2005, 45% of my business was from WBN referrals and 25% from previous customers… who may have been WBN referrals. These referrals come from many members outside of my chapter.

The best advice to new members is to go to every event. Be a participator, join committees, be the Chapter Chairperson, the Chapter Rep, run for the Board of Directors. I have learned so much from volunteering to help with things… leadership from being a Board member for 4 years, getting group cooperation from being a committee chairperson, event planning, dealing with government bureaucracy from completing the first application for the not-for-profit status, organization and so much more. My first volunteer effort at WBN was to be on the committee that chose the WBN logo. I guess we did a good job, the logo has not changed in 18 years.

If the only thing you do is to give your one minute self-marketing at your chapter meetings and wonder why you are not getting anything out of “networking,” you are missing the boat! Be sure when you do your one minute self-marketing if your business has “visual” things that you do “show and tell” at every meeting. Offer a tidbit of “advice” if your business is a service business. Before long, the other chapter members will think of you as an “expert” in your field. Tell your chapter members what type of customer would make a good referral for your business. Be sure to pay attention in all of your conversations wherever you are to “listen” for someone who could use help from one of your chapter members. Networking is give and take!